So, Bloodborne
is certainly the game on everyone's lips at the moment, and like it or not, everyone's got an opinion on it.

Me? I'm still not sure what to make of it, but as I've
been scanning Twitter and seeing what people have to say, I found myself quite
confused by a sizable contingent of people who said that they really like Bloodborne despite not liking the Souls
series -- and we’re not just talking a casual "dislike." More often
than not, it was closer to a violent allergic reaction.

As someone who is a long-time fan of Fromsoft and familiar with all of the Souls games, I certainly think Bloodborne is its own experience and
different from its predecessors, but to hear such drastic about-faces? I was
quite curious as to why someone would love one but the other not at all, so I asked a few people exactly
why that was…

*

@dits Less
sword-and-board, and more flowing combat. DS
was far too ploddy, but I can hack the hellbeasts down in Bloodborne.

@OnlyInSaudiArab Fast
and not easy.

@Cameron_PSLS Me
personally, I like the setting of Bloodborne
better than Souls.

@TheGeekyHusband The
environment, polish, and more responsive movement. I don't feel like dyng is as
"unfair" as it was in the past

@Zolbrod It’s
more fast-paced and aggressive. I feel like my experience with third-person
action games like Bayonetta, etc. is
of more use.

@SleepinEyes It
feels less technical, more gung-ho approachable.

@Echo829 Many
reasons, but the big one is that it feels way more fair. When I die, I rarely
feel like it wasn’t my fault. Whereas with Souls,
it felt like a pop-up book of frustration and "fuck you" moments that
rarely felt fair.

@JakeLear I
would say the Regain system in BB
feels more forgiving, and getting womped doesn't mean I should immediately die
and restart the zone.

@GrnMushroom The
controls in Dark Souls never clicked
for me. I just felt like I was constantly fighting them... It was hard to get
my character to do what I wanted. Bloodborne
controls much easier. I remember giving up within the first 15 minutes of
Souls games because I hated the
controls, not because of the gameplay. Bloodborne
is much closer to other 3rd person action games.

@GTElephant I’m
engaged with the Victoriana-Gothic aesthetics in a way I wasn’t with the
fantasy style of the opening of Dark
Souls. The initial character choices I was offered didn’t feel like they
had any hidden traps that would lead to a broken build. Being able to use a gun
to stagger gave me what felt like a “safety net”, similar to Witch Time in Bayonetta… That freed me to take risks,
and the trick weapons gave me tactical options; I felt capable very early on,
if not powerful.

@discobeaver Played
Demon’s Souls, skipped Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2. Probably played about 4-5 hours between them both....
totally not my thing, found them frustrating, boring and too slow-paced for my
liking. Bloodborne on the other
hand... I took a massive chance and jumped in due to HYPE and I loved it from the start. Much quicker pace, feels more
fluid.

@DavidRobots
My
relationship with Souls has been
complicated. I've always appreciated it from a distance, respected it for what
it was, but it's always felt impenetrable to me.

I've always wanted to crack the code, to figure out
why the hell I couldn't get into these games. I figured it was something wrong
with me, that I was somehow broken. I'd cut my teeth on games like Mega Man and Castlevania - why couldn't I give these a shot?

There was something about the way playing Souls games gave me this sinking feeling
in my gut. That feeling of having actual stakes; having something on the line
that you can lose (in this sense, time and progression).

I loved it, but hated it at the same time. And for the
longest time, I let that fear get the best of me, so they always remained this
thing that I'd just appreciate from afar, but never actually attain.

And then, Bloodborne.

I read the reviews, and said "You know what? This is it. I'm going to do it this time"
and I bought a digital copy so I wouldn't trade it back in. I'm so glad I made
that promise to myself, because for every moment where I've wanted to give up,
the feelings of success pulls me back in even more, and this one seemed to grab
me a lot faster and more readily than any of the Souls games.

For one, I'm not a huge fan of fantasy settings, and
the previous games felt like generic fantasy crap, with dragons and whatnot. I
know they're anything but -- they have huge worlds filled with tons of
interesting lore -- but at first glance, that's the impression I got.

Bloodborne,
with its gothic structures and Victorian-era influences, feels all at once
familiar and yet totally foreign, and it gave me something to grab on to during
the first few hours of the game. Plus, that familiarity and that slight bit of
the real world makes the game feel that much creepier.

And the combat?

I'm not a patient person. I want to go out and slice fools
apart when I play a game, and the Souls
games were a bit too methodical for me. Hide behind your shield, wait
for the opportune moment, and strike. Bloodborne has no
shield, so the only defense is a good offense. That, combined with the Regain
system makes combat feel so much more visceral, so much more in the moment than it’s ever been.

The other streamlining choices (not worrying about
weight, magic, or limiting weapon/combat styles) kept things focused and more
manageable for me. Plus, I've figured out how to parry most of the time, so
that helps.

I want to go back and give the other Souls games a shot now. Playing
Bloodborne, taking down a few bosses, and realizing that, yes, I can do
this, makes me want to go back and give them a shot.

*

So, I don’t know if I found the answer, but the responses here certainly gave me something to
chew on… It seems pretty clear that if nothing else, the increased speed and
streamlined elements opened the door for most of this particular group of folks.

Are these changes ultimately a good thing? A
bad thing? It's hard to say, and I do wonder what it means -- if anything -- for Fromsoft’s design philosophy
in the future.

I know a lot of y'all out there are playing Bloodborne right now. I got this info straight from Sony this morning, and I'm passing it on to hopefully save you some heartache.

Heads up!

*

Missing “Lunarium Key” bug:

Following limited early reports from users, the development team has worked quickly to identify, recreate, and ultimately confirm a progression bug regarding the “Lunarium Key” in “Byrgenwerth” not appearing properly.

Criteria:

This bug occurs once the user initiates online multiplayer as a co-op guest (by using the “Small Resonant Bell”) or as a hostile invader (by using the “Sinister Resonant Bell”) in the “Forbidden Woods” area.

Solutions:

A 1.02 hotfix is currently being finalized and prepared for deployment. Due to the early detection and reporting of this bug (thanks to the Reddit and GameFaqs communities for escalating), the team is confident the hotfix can be released next week. An exact ETA is not presently available, but we will provide more information as soon as possible.

This hotfix will not include previously stated planned improvements to load times and performance; those refinements will be included later in a separate patch.

Players are advised to please avoid using either the “Small Resonant Bell” or the “Sinister Resonant Bell” in the “Forbidden Woods” until the hotfix is deployed

To the players who have already fulfilled the bug criteria and encountered this issue: the team extends its sincerest apologies for this inconvenience. The 1.02 hotfix will resolve this issue and every step is being taken to deploy it as soon as possible. Your patience and understanding are appreciated.

Finally, we have newcomer @MobilesWorking covering WiiU’s
Art of Balance.

Now, on to the main event…

So, Bloodborneis
finally out, and my copy arrived today from Amazon.

I was so confident that I would be all-in on this game that
I ordered the limited edition and didn't hesitate for a moment. Ironically, it
just so happened that I had the day off from work (seriously, I did not call in
sick, it was just good luck!) so I got to spend a fair amount of time with it
this morning.

First impressions? Not too great, honestly.

The biggest thing that bothers me is that I find it to be very muddy and
cluttered, visually. It’s waaaay overdone with iron fences and crates and
detritus on every streetcorner and so on. The color palettes are extremely
dark, and it all blends together so much that it’s hard to tell the difference between areas. Unlike the previous Souls games, I’m not finding good
landmarks to guide myself by – it all looks the same to my eye.

The developers are also clearly going back to Dark Souls for inspiration in their level
design – the opening area (and the rest of the game, I’m guessing?) are places that
are stacked on top of each other and doubling back, full of shortcuts and
crisscrossing. I'm not one of those Dark players
who got an erection over unlocking shortcuts, so this style combined with my
inability to visually navigate means that I often find myself going in circles
and getting lost constantly.

It’s frustrating to be confused whether I’m going forwards
or backwards, and when I finally find a new area (and inevitably get killed) I
can't remember how I got there. Maybe it's just the way my brain works, but it
seems to me the environments need more visual clarity.

I'm also not liking how the game starts in general. The opening area is quite
tough, and although the developers do give some text prompts, it's a little unclear to tell when you're supposed to "parry" with a gunshot, and how
that system works. I'm sure that will come with time, but a little more of an introduction
would've been nice. The saves also feel far apart, and it took a good long
while before I was able to unlock the option to level up. I’m guessing it’s
meant as a sink-or-swim welcome to the game, but it feels a bit much.

After a while, I stumbled upon a boss called the Cleric Beast. Like the
environments, I found his visual design to be muddy, and it was difficult to
see his tells. I defeated him on my first try, but it was an unsatisfying win.
I didn’t know that you could target different parts of his body, and the camera
was often spazzing out of control. Looking directly up a boss’s rectum during a
fight? Not helpful. Similarly, I often find myself wheeling the camera around
trying to keep enemies in view, and I'm often surprised from behind during
fights. The lock-on function frequently drops as well, so that can lead to some
inopportune deaths.

I don't mean to sound entirely down on the game because I plan on putting more
time into it, but I gotta be honest in saying that it's not clicking with me so
far. Perhaps it's going to work out that I only love every *other* Souls game? If that's so, then whatever
comes after Bloodborne should be my
new favorite…

Otherwise, I'm still chipping away at Monster Hunter 4U (the Crimson Fatalis dragon
went down like a chump), I’m still putting time into Helldivers every night (love it!!) and I'm just about to write a
review for [embargo’d game] which turned
out to be something of a disappointment.

Chump

I can’t name names right now, but it was one of the things I
was most excited for this year, and now that I have it in my hands, I find
myself falling asleep every time I play it. The funny thing is that I think
it's technically sound, and it definitely shows some good ideas. On paper, it
seems like it should be a homerun. It's really lacking that spark for me,
though…

I can see some people falling head over heels for it, but for me, I
don't think I'm going to finish.

Sigh.

**************PR/NEWS/INFO**************

Independent developer Croteam and philosophical game label Devolver Digital
have announced The Talos Principle: Road to Gehenna, an upcoming expansion
pack for the award-winning first-person puzzler The Talos Principle. Set
in the world of The Talos Principle, Road to Gehenna follows the
narrative of Uriel, Elohim's messenger, as he explores a strange, hidden part
of the simulation on a mission of mercy and redemption in an attempt to free
the souls of the damned at all costs.

The Talos Principle: Road to Gehenna will consist of four episodes that
take experienced players through some of the most advanced and challenging
puzzles yet. The Talos Principle writers Tom Jubert and Jonas
Kyratzes have returned to pen the expansion and show players an entirely
different side of Elohim's world through a journey to Gehenna filled with new
characters and a new society with its own history and philosophy.

The Talos Principle: Road to Gehenna is coming to Steam this spring
while The Talos Principle and the expansion pack will launch on
PlayStation 4 and the Nvidia Shield platforms later this year. For more
information and updates on The Talos Principle follow @Croteam and
@DevolverDigital on Twitter.

*

BioWare™, an Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) studio, today
announced brand-new downloadable content (DLC) that expands the singleplayer
experience for Dragon Age: Inquisition, winner of over 100 Game of the Year
awards. Now available for digital download, the Dragon Age: Inquisition - Jaws
of Hakkon DLC adds an exciting new story arc to the campaign and expands on its
already vast world with a new region of Thedas to explore. Dragon Age:
Inquisition - Jaws of Hakkon is available first on Xbox One, the all-in-one
games and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC via Origin™ for $14.99.

Dragon Age: Inquisition - Jaws of Hakkon will reveal the
fate of the last Inquisitor and the powerful dragon he hunted. The new content
expands the land of Thedas with a massive new playable area covered in
mountains and lush forests, where danger lurks in the shadowy undergrowth. As
players explore the vertical landscape and dense wilderness fighting off
vicious enemies, they will collect legendary armor and weapons before
unearthing an ancient secret that could destroy the world.

Take the fight to the surface in Arc System Works' latest
title, Damascus Gear, available today on PlayStation Vita. With a fleet of
elite humanoid good robots called GEAR to pilot, you will lead an
squad of soldiers to claw Earth back from the RAGE, bad robots that have gone
berserk and annihilated 80% of the world's population.

From the broken husks of dead RAGE, you will take parts to customize your
GEAR. Whatever your fighting style--from long range rifles to blades to a
friggin' laser cannon--you can customize to your robot-bashing heart's content.
Once you've built the ultimate fighting machine, head out to take on harder
missions, or visit the arena and test your strength against other GEAR
pilots.

Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video
games, announced a partnership with Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, the
world’s largest regional theme park operator, to bring the Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate experience to guests at Six Flags Magic Mountain, the “Thrill
Capital of the World.” As part of the campaign, the park’s Goliath roller
coaster will be re-themed to Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate beginningMarch
28 and through August 10. To help kick off the opening weekend of the
program, the national Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate traveling Caravan
Tour will also be making a stop at Six Flags Magic Mountain for special event
days onMarch 28 and 29.

*

When Etrian Mystery Dungeon releases on April 7, people
who own the game will be able to get all the DLC for free. This offer lasts
through May 5, so don't dawdle! The DLC consists of five quests that have
various bonuses! After May 5, the DLC will revert to paid, with the prices
indicated below.

The first three DLC quests require you to find a lost
adventurer in the dungeons. Once you do, they will give you recipes that unlock
meals prepared by the NPC Niralda in the Amber Cafe. Players can purchase the
meals for each of the party members to apply buffs that last until they leave
the dungeon!

Find a Wanderer for me! Find the master chef Wanderer
to unlock three new recipes for the Amber Restaurant! ($1.49)

Find a Princess for me! Find the stray Sovereign to
unlock a meal fit for a king in the Amber Restaurant! ($1.99)

Find a Landsknecht for me! Find the adventurous
Landsknecht to unlock three new recipes for the Amber Restaurant! ($1.49)

The last two DLC quests are repeatable quests that players
can get from Niralda as well:

Know the Red Pookas? Slay a Red Pooka wandering around
the dungeon to receive a Golden or White potion for extra experience! ($1.99)

Slay the Gold Guardian! Defeat an elusive Gold Guardian
in the dungeon to receive a Nugget of Gold fragment for extra gold! ($1.49)

Beginning March 31 (a week before the game
launches!), an Etrian Mystery Dungeon theme will be available on the Nintendo
eShop for 99 cents! The static theme has scrolling character art (hand-drawn
and 3D), plays the main Etrian Mystery Dungeon theme song, and has custom
folders. We made a short little demo video of the theme you can check out
here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w11ZoqvHzJc

*

We’re pleased to announce The Evil Within: The
Assignment is available! This first piece of DLC for The Evil
Within is the first in a two-part, story driven experience and will
be followed up with The Evil Within: The Consequence later this
Spring.

In The Evil Within: The Assignment and The
Evil Within: The Consequence, players take on the role of detective Juli
Kidman, Sebastian Castellanos’ mysterious partner, in a concurrent story that
looks to answer some of the questions surrounding her whereabouts during The
Evil Within. Along the way she will encounter disturbing new enemies, discover
new mysteries, and uncover new horrors. The Assignment and The
Consequence give fans of The Evil Within the perfect opportunity
to discover detective Kidman’s hidden motivations and her mysterious connection
to Mobius, the shadowy group thought to be behind the gruesome events of The
Evil Within.

Both The Assignment and The Consequence are
available as part of The Evil Within’s Season Pass. Priced at $19.99, the
Season Pass offers savings on all three add-ons for the game, including the
third DLC, The Evil Within: The Executioner, and is available on PSN, Xbox
LIVE, and PC. Pricing and release dates may vary by territory and/or
platform. The Assignment is also available for purchase separately
and is priced at $9.99

The Evil Within has been rated M for Mature by the
ESRB. For more information on The Evil Within please visit theevilwithin.com.

*

Get your hands a-clapping, because the idols of Omega
Quintet are coming! Our first ever PlayStation­®4 game is set to
arrive in North America on April 28th in both physical and
digital formats. It will hit Europe on May 1st and will be available
digitally for European markets May 6th.

In a world overrun by a mysterious, malevolent darkness, the only hope for
humanity rests in the music of singing idols known as "Verse
Maidens". Wielding weapons of sound, they are tasked with fighting back
evil and restoring the world, but it won't be easy! These five plucky girls -
with the help of their manager Takt - will have to give the performance of a
lifetime to stop this darkness from claiming the last of humanity. Will they be
able to band together and blow this evil away, or will they fight only to
discover that the darkness has been lurking within them the whole
time...?

Games: I don't know about you, but as far as I'm
concerned, there really hasn't been a first-quarter lull this year. It seemed
like we got about a week or two to chill after the madness of the holidays, but
then the games started coming out, full steam, and there's been just a ton of
really quality stuff out there.

For example, Helldivers (PS3, PS4, Vita) I saw this one
last year at a tradeshow and it looked okay, but this is one
of those cases where you really can't grasp what makes it so amazing until you
sit down and put some time into it.

The simplest way to describe it is if you took Diablo, Destiny,
and Starship Troopers, mashed it altogether and added 50%
more awesome to the mix. I picked it up on release day and I've been
playing every day ever since… The hook (or at least, one of the hooks) is that
the game is super-lethal, but not in an annoying way-- in a way that makes the
player more cautious, and that gives everything much more significance.

The biggest example of this
is that friendly fire is always on, so spraying lead
haphazardly around the battlefield will quickly result in dead teammates. You
also have to be very conscientious about where and when you reload, and things
get incredibly hot and heavy at any time. In the blink of an eye, things can go
from totally quiet to being a raging-hot firefight with enemies going down,
allies was going down, rushing to revive them, running away to reload, and
a thousand other things happening at once, while always trying to be cautious
and not blowing your fellow soldiers away.

Oh, did I mention you can
call down a beefy mecha exosuit, Titanfall-style? And that
there are jetpacks? JETPACKS.

I played a good bit solo
and that was fine, but the game really came alive with a partner-- in fact,
I've been enjoying it so much, I went out and bought a third PS4 controller so
that my wife and my son could both be on my squad at the same time. Up to four
people can couch co-op in the same room, and having good coordination and each
member bringing a different loadout leads to strategic, tactical play. OTOH, if
you don't have that many people around, having randoms join in (or joining
random games yourself) is incredibly easy and there are loads of people
playing. It really does feel like taking part in a galactic war.

I wasn't planning to review the game, but I've been enjoying it so much that I
decided I should probably put out the effort… Sadly, I’m gonna spoil my review
right now and say that this game is friggin’ awesome.

In terms of games that are not so good, I was checking out htol#NIQ:
The Firefly Diary (Vita) which is a recent new-IP effort from
NISA. On the surface it seems tailor-made for me with an enigmatic story, cute
characters, and puzzle-based gameplay. However, I bounced off of this one
pretty quick and I don't think that I’ll be back.

The game begins with touch controls, and I just don't think they suit this game
at all… Touching the front screen moves a "light" fairy, and touching
the rear screen moves a "dark" fairy. The main character will blindly
follow the light fairy around, which is how you get her from place to place. At
the same time, you frequently need to manipulate the way the light from the
fairy falls in order to set up shadows so the dark fairy can travel in them and
move around each room.

There's more to it than that, but getting to the point, I found the game to be
incredibly difficult and annoying at the same time, and within the first 15 or
20 minutes I got quite stuck and frustrated with what was going on. There’s an
achievement for dying ten times in an area, and I earned it in the second
level, if that gives you an idea of how it goes.

It's worth noting that there are alternate controls games so apparently people
can use standard controls which (I'm sure) makes it a better experience, but
the level of difficulty and the obtuseness of the game didn't have anything to
do with the controls. My first impressions were pretty negative, and I might
give it another shot at some point in the future… But probably not.

Speaking of negative impressions, I've been putting a little time into Flame
Over (Vita) from Laughing Jackal, which is a
"Pyroguelike" which features a small, cartoonish fireman who goes
into procedurally-generated levels to put out fires and rescue people. I like
the concept and while I see a lot of good ideas happening here, it feels like
it falls really short in the execution.

The game starts off with no tutorial whatsoever, so a lot of what's going on is
totally not clear. What's the point of turning off electricity? How do you earn
the coins to buy items? Why can I keep continuing to play when the Grim Reaper
shows up? What was that item I just picked up?

The mechanics don't feel totally polished, either. Sometimes fires are obscured
by the geometry of levels, and manipulating the camera is done with the same
stick that also aims the water hose and fire extinguisher the fireman carries,
so toggling back and forth between them feels unnatural and stutter-stoppy.

I lost track of how many times I've played it, but I haven’t even managed to
finish the first level yet, and I’m rapidly losing patience. And just to be
clear, I'm not the kind of player who’s easily scared off by roguelikes in
general or games that offer difficult experiences -- it just doesn't feel like
the parts of Flame Over are put together correctly. I wish I
had more positive things to say about it, but overall it feels like a case of
"almost, but not quite".

In other any games news, I'm still playing Monster Hunter 4:
Ultimate, of course. I hit a bit of a stalling point a while ago, but I
think I'm back on track. I’m currently working on making the Brute Tigrex armor
and trying to finish off the end of the single player campaign.

If you play Monster Hunter yourself then you probably already know about the
free DLC, but in case you haven't heard, Capcom will be releasing new bunches
of DLC on the first Friday of every month for the foreseeable future. You can
watch a detailed preview of what came in the first batch right here, the
highlights being a clockwork Insect Glaive and a bunch of armor and weapons
taken directly from The Legend of Zelda. Yes, really.

Also, are you one of the
many, many folks who watched @AEvanko’s MH tutorials lately? If so, do him a
solid and chip him a few bucks so he can improve his working gear!

Finally, one quick note
about @MarvelPuzzle Quest. The game recently released Iron Fist as one of the
new three-star characters, and he is a complete badass. I wouldn't be surprised
if he got nerfed before too long, honestly. If you get a chance to use him, go
for it.

Otherwise, the new PVE just
hit, and the top prize is a new four-star character, Professor X! It's hard to
tell at this early stage, but according to my quick read of his abilities, it
seems like he's going to be an absolute monster… Get in on it and try to shoot
for the top while you can!

Finally, here's a whole slew of links to content that went up recently at @Gamecritics:

Mad Max. All
those who pre-order Mad Max will receive an additional Magnum Opus
car body called “The Ripper,” which packs a powerful V8 engine, upgraded
exhaust with custom off-road tires, a ramming grill and a tuned suspension so
it can take on a variety of Wasteland surfaces. Also revealed today was
box art for the game.

Set to
launch September 1 in the Americas for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and
Windows PC, Mad Max delivers open world gameplay in a
post-apocalyptic setting where cars are the key to survival. Developed by
Avalanche Studios, gamers become Mad Max, a lone warrior who must fight to stay
alive in The Wasteland, using vicious on-ground and vehicular combat against
savage bandits. Following the theft of his iconic Interceptor, Max must align
himself with a gifted, but peculiar, mechanic named Chumbucket and others to
build the ultimate war vehicle as he works to escape from the dangerous
Wasteland. More information can be found at MadMaxGame.com.

*

Get ready to explore the
vast labyrinth of ruins as you dive into La-Mulana EX, now available across
North America on the PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system from Rising
Star Games and Pygmy Studio!

One of the original
archeological exploration action games, La-Mulana EX is packed with challenging
enemies, treacherous locations, huge bosses, and absolutely punishing but
ultimately rewarding gameplay. La-Mulana EX is guaranteed to be a must-have
title for PlayStation®Vita system owners and is available now!

About La-Mulana EX:

Set in the fabled ruins of
La-Mulana, players will help Professor Lemeza Kosugiembark on an exciting but
incredibly deadly adventure. Armed at first with only his trusty whip, he'll
traverse through the lost city, finding treasures and discovering a bounty of
unexplored caves, unsolved riddles and ravenous monsters. But with the ruins
having claimed the lives of everyone that has ever entered, will Lemeza be able
to survive in the quest to find the secret to life itself?

Shiftlings’ inventive spin
on physics-based puzzle platforming comes from its two leading characters, a
pair of half-witted extraterrestrial engineers whose space suits are
hilariously linked by a single air hose. By passing gas back and forth, the
Shiftlings can expand and deflate instantaneously to slip through tight spaces,
move heavy objects and bounce to new heights, dragging each other along with
every step.

Shiftlings features
more than 50 clever stages of traps to traverse and collectibles to discover
across five astronomical worlds. Players can take on the universe alone,
controlling both cosmic custodians, or tether to a friend for two-player
cooperative multiplayer online or locally.

Set within an intergalactic
reality television show, Shiftlings’ cartoonish presentation lends itself
to plenty of humor between its comically unaware stars and the watchful
announcer, casting players as both participants and viewers through the
adventure.

Shiftlings is now
available for $14.99 on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system via the
PlayStation®Network and Windows PC. It will be available for the same price on
March 4 for Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from
Microsoft, through the Xbox Games Store. This game is rated T (Teen) by the
ESRB.

Techland announced that the
second content drop of the Season Pass for Dying Light will launch on March
10th. The Ultimate Survivor Bundle brings a collection of unique items to the
quarantine zone, including blueprints for four one-of-a-kind weapons: The
Constable, the Night Club, Lacerator, and Buzz Killer. On top of that, the
bundle comes with three distinctive character outfits: the Ninja, Urban
Explorer, and Special Agent. The Ultimate Survivor Bundle will be available
across all platforms as a part of the Season Pass offer or separately at 4,99
USD/ 4,99 EUR / 3,99 GBP.

Also on March 10th, a new
free update for Dying Light will be released. Along with various improvements
to the game’s performance, gameplay balance, online functions, and visual
fidelity, patch 1.4 will introduce a specially designed Hard Mode, allowing
players to add extra challenge and realism to their game. Furthermore, the
update adds an additional tier to weapon rarity level, extra rewards for
completing the game, more character outfits, and dozens of new weapons. All
content of patch 1.4 will be available for free on all supported platforms.

*

inXile entertainment
announced that the best-selling PC game, Wasteland 2 is currently in
development for Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from
Microsoft via the ID@Xbox self-publishing program and PlayStation®4 computer entertainment
system, slated for release late summer.

Currently available
for PC fans (http://store.steampowered.com/app/240760/), Wasteland
2 is one of the most successful crowdfunded games of all-time. Total
Biscuit, who commented that this “really does feel like Fallout 4, if Fallout
were to go back to its CRPG roots,” awarded Wasteland 2 as
the “Best Thing to Come out of Crowdfunding”. Wasteland 2 also
won game of the year from PC World for 2014. The game features 70+ hours of
highly re-playable gameplay in which no two people can have the same
experience.

*

NIS America is thrilled to
announce that first print copies of the Wii U™ version of

Rodea the Sky
Soldier will also come packaged with the Wii™ version of the game! The
Wii™ version will be exclusive to the retail version of the game and available
for the first printing. This is currently planned for both North America and
Europe. Players will be delighted to experience creator Yuji Naka’s original
vision for Rodea!

ISLAND PARADISE  Kitty Lambda Games (The Real Texas, Paradise
Perfect) and Devolver Digital (The Talos Principle, Hotline Miami 2) have
unveiled Paradise Never, an action RPG set in 2027 on an island colony of
France in the midst of turmoil and revolution. Relive the same three days over
and over in an attempt to right your wrongs and free your quiet island
community from its imperial oppressors while trying to keep your close-knit
group of friends-turned-rebels alive. Paradise Never will launch this
summer on PC, Mac, and Linux via Steam, Humble, and GOG.

Paradise Never uses a sophisticated NPC behavioral system, a complex
object interaction mechanic, and a tropical paradise that regenerates with each
three day cycle to create a living, breathing world bustling with activity with
or without your direct intervention. Talk to NPCs at different times in
different circumstances to better understand their motivations and gain the
knowledge you need to save them all. Strike down your opposition with your
battle-ready electric guitar or outfit your boat with new cannons to take the
battle to the open seas - but keep the casualties down or the goddess will
reset the time loop and youll restart your quest.

Attendees at PAX East will be able to go hands on with Paradise Never with
developer Calvin French at the Indie Megabooth (#6155). For more information,
please visithttp://www.paradisenever.com or follow
@Psysal and @DevolverDigital on Twitter.

*

– Konami
Digital Entertainment, Inc. announced that the highly
anticipated conclusion to the METAL GEAR SOLID V Experience, METAL GEAR
SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN, will be released worldwide
starting September 1, 2015.

METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE
PHANTOM PAIN is the series’ largest and most ambitious edition to date,
expanding upon themes and content seen in the METAL GEAR SOLID V Experience
prologue: METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES. Set within huge open-world
environments, METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN is brought to
vivid life with realistic weather patterns and day/night cycles. Thus, players
can adapt their tactics to match the changing environment, creating an
intuitive and non-linear gameplay experience. Similarly, a host of
acclaimed METAL GEAR SOLIDtroops return in hugely advanced forms,
including expanded CQC (Close-Quarter Combat) skills, vastly improved enemy AI,
online elements that complement the single player campaign, and an all-new
version of METAL GEAR ONLINE, a competitive multiplayer mode, included
within the main game.

The September window will
see a number of product options available to passionate fans of the series,
with METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN releasing both a special
“Day 1 Edition” and a limited “Collector’s Edition”.

“Day 1
Edition” Content (Physical Version*)

MAP

DLC items

Adam-ska Special Handgun

Personal Ballistic Shield
(Silver)

Cardboard Box (Wetland)

Fatigues (Blue Urban Snake
Costume)

METAL GEAR ONLINE XP BOOST

*Digital Version contents
to be announced at a future time

**Steam version will
include the above DLC content at launch

Collector’s Edition Content
(Physical Version Only):

Half Scale Replica of
Snake’s Bionic Arm

Collectible SteelBook

Behind the Scenes Documentary
& Trailers Blu-ray Disc

MAP

Exclusive Packaging

DLC items

WEAPON & SHIELD PACK

Windurger S333 Combat
Special Revolver

Adam-ska Special Handgun

Maschinen Taktische Pistole
5 Weiss Special Handgun

Rasp Short-Barreled Shotgun
Gold

Personal Ballistic Shield(Olive
Drab)

Personal Ballistic Shield(Silver)

Personal Ballistic Shield(White)

Personal Ballistic Shield(Gold)

CARDBOARD BOXES

Cardboard Box (Rocky
Terrain)

Cardboard Box (All-Purpose
Dryland)

Cardboard Box (Wetland)

SNAKE COSTUMES

Fatigues (Black Ocelot)

Fatigues (Gray Urban)

Fatigues (Blue Urban)

Fatigues (All-Purpose
Dryland)

Other

"VENOM SNAKE"
Emblem

MGO BOOST

METAL GEAR ONLINE XP BOOST

MGO Items

Metal Gear Rex Helmet

AM MRS-4 GOLD Assault Rifle

WU S. PISTOL GOLD

METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE
PHANTOM PAIN including METAL GEAR ONLINE, will retail with an SRP of
$59.99 for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system; the Xbox One, the
all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft; and Steam, and $49.99
for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Xbox 360. “Collector’s
Edition” SRP will be $99.99 for the PlayStation®4 and the Xbox One. The Steam
version ofMETAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN will be released
on September 15, 2015.

Bethesda Softworks, a
ZeniMax Media company, today announced Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, the
standalone prequel to the critically-acclaimed first-person action-adventure
shooter, Wolfenstein®: The New Order™. In development at MachineGames, Wolfenstein:
The Old Blood will be available digitally for $19.99 on May 5,
2015 for Xbox One®, the all-in-one games and entertainment system
from Microsoft, PlayStation®4 system, and PC.

The year is 1946 and the
Nazis are on the brink of winning World War II. In an effort to turn the tide
in the Allies’ favor, B.J. Blazkowicz must embark on an epic, two-part mission
deep within Bavaria. Part one of Wolfenstein: The Old
Blood - Rudi Jäger and the Den of Wolves - pits BJ
Blazkowicz against a maniacal prison warden as he breaks into Castle
Wolfenstein in an attempt to steal the coordinates to General Deathshead’s
compound. In part two – The Dark Secrets of Helga
Von Schabbs – our hero's search for the coordinates leads him to
the city of Wulfburg where an obsessed Nazi archaeologist is exhuming
mysterious artifacts that threaten to unleash a dark and ancient power.

Wolfenstein: The Old
Blood is rated M for mature by the ESRB. For more information
on Wolfenstein: The Old Blood visit: www.wolfenstein.com.

*

505 Games and Rebellion
today announced that Sniper Elite 3 ‘Ultimate Edition’ for console is
now available for digital download
and at retailers nationwide.

This new offering
brings the award-winning original Sniper Elite III game and also bundles an
additional nine DLC packs including all three expansive ‘Save Churchill’
missions and 18 additional weapons in one explosive package. Also
included in the package are the bonus multiplayer maps and modes added since
launch. This new experience is designed to give players everything they need to
traverse the unforgiving yet exotic terrain of North Africa as they embroil
themselves in a savage conflict against Nazi Germany’s elite Afrika Korps and
infamous SS special forces.